Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., a Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications at the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, was arrested and charged with running a dogfighting ring for more than 20 years.
This is according to the Department of Justice’s press release on September 21, 2023.
Moorefield, 62 years old from Arnold, Maryland was arrested alongside Mario Damon Flythe, 49 years old from Glen Burnie Maryland.
Both men face federal charges related to their involvement in promoting and furthering an animal fighting venture which was made public during their initial court appearances on Thursday September 28th 2023.
J. Mark Coulson, U.S. Magistrate Judge, issued an order for the release of both defendants prior to trial under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services. An investigation revealed that Moorefield and Flythe had communicated via encrypted messaging applications with people from all across the United States regarding dogfighting activities.
On September 6, 2023, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at the Maryland residences of Moorefield and Flythe. Twelve dogs were recovered and seized by the federal government, along with veterinary steroids, training schedules, a carpet stained with blood, and a weighted dog vest bearing the name “Geehad Kennels.”
Additionally, a device consisting of an electrical plug and jumper cables was seized; this is suspected to have been used to execute dogs lost in dogfights. Investigation into the case revealed that Moorefield had been operating under the name “Geehad Kennels” while Flythe had used “Razor Sharp Kennels” as their respective dogfighting operations.
The duo had discussed training methods as well as exchanging videos about dogfighting and coordinating fights between animals. Furthermore, they engaged in betting on these events while also sharing media reports concerning other dogfighters who had been apprehended by law enforcement.
If convicted, Moorefield and Flythe each face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for possessing, training, or transporting animals for participation in an animal fighting venture.
More from the Washington Post:
Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement on Monday that the Defense Department was “aware of the criminal complaint” filed against Moorefield in federal district court in Baltimore.
“We can confirm that the individual is no longer in the workplace, but we cannot comment further on an individual personnel matter,” Gorman said. He did not say if Moorefield had been suspended, terminated or allowed to retire.
An affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Ryan C. Daly indicated that authorities have been investigating the dogfighting ring, which called itself “the DMV Board,” for years. Nine fellow dog-fighters were indicted in Virginia last year, and eight have pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators. Members communicated on the “Telegram” messaging app about training fighting dogs, exchanging videos, arranging fights and wagers, and comparing methods of killing dogs who lost fights, the affidavit states.
Online records maintained by the dogs’ owners showed that Moorefield had been involved in dogfighting “since at least 2002,” Daly wrote, and evidence of Moorefield’s training for fights, or refereeing other owners’ dog fights, was found periodically over the years, including extensive messaging lining up fights and prize money. Evidence indicated some fights occurred earlier this year, despite the arrests of others in the ring, and that Moorefield and Flythe were “experimenting with different types of performance enhancing drugs to improve [their] chances of winning dogfights.”
Moorefield’s profile has been deleted from the U.S. Department of Defense’s website. But internet sleuths were able to archive the page:
Mr. Moorefield is the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications (C3), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chief Information Officer. As DCIO, Mr. Moorefield provides technical expertise, oversight and broad guidance on policy, programmatic and technical issues relating to C3 to integrate and synchronize defense-wide communications programs. He also advises on efforts to achieve and maintain information dominance for the Department of Defense. He manages efforts defining DoD policies and strategies for design, architecture, interoperability standards, capability development and sustainment of critical command and control and communications for non-nuclear strategic strike, integrated missile defense, Defense and National Leadership Command Capabilities, and spectrum.
Mr. Moorefield joined Federal service in 1989 in the Air Force as a civil servant, where he served for 19 years doing Research and Development and Acquisition at Wright Patterson Air Force Base Air Force Research Labs. He also served in the Defense Information Systems Agency at the Joint Spectrum Center for four years.
He served as Technical Director and Director of Strategic Planning at the Air Force Spectrum Management Office and has been a member of the Senior Executive Corps since 2012.
His education includes a Bachelor degree in mathematics from Wilberforce University, located in Wilberforce Ohio and a Bachelor and Master of Electrical.
Frederick Moorefield, who? Preserved for eternity..
This is the Pentagon official who electrocuted fighting dogs with jumper cables.
🔹https://t.co/wLRM8ceD9V https://t.co/E5lqWR6hrK pic.twitter.com/xL6dSbBnsW
— Bad Kitty Unleashed 🦁💪🏻 (@pepesgrandma) October 3, 2023
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